An internal resistance always accompanies a process of decision-making that can be seen as a symptom of a split personality. This duality is not always strict. It can’t change the main characteristics or influence a way of life. To a certain point, a human can control this sensation. However, in the case of a dissociative identity disorder, a person may lose individuality, get fragmented and feel as several, independent personalities.

When the alternate identity becomes dominant and episodic memory gradually recovers, the sense that you are not alone follows. The retrospection (sudden and unexpected return of memories) brings the fear of identification along with the personal “I”.

Etiology

Dissociative personality disorder usually occurs in people who have experienced severe stress or trauma in childhood.

Children are not born with a sense of a single, integral personality; it develops under the influence of many factors and personal experience. In children exposed to prolonged excessive stress, the unification of mental components as an integral personality does not occur. Patients with dissociative personality disorder often experience prolonged and severe violence (physical, sexual, or emotional) and neglect in childhood (in the United States, Canada, and Europe, approximately 90% of patients). Some patients were not subjected to violence in childhood, but talk about strong emotional experiences associated, for example, with the death of a parent, serious illness or other stressful event.

Unlike most healthy children who have formed an integral self-identity, children who have experienced abuse do not integrate perceptions, memories, emotions and life experiences that remain separated. Over time, such children may develop an adaptive ability that protects the psyche from abuse, which manifests itself as "detachment" - that is, separation from its harsh physical environment - or withdrawal into oneself. Each phase of a child’s development or experienced negative experiences can provoke the development of a new personality.

In standardized tests, people with this disorder have high rates of sensitivity to hypnosis and dissociation (the ability to protect one’s own memories, feelings or personality from a conscious understanding).